Why go green in fashion?

The demand for fashion has grown exponentially over the last few decades. Consumers have enjoyed easy access to endless collections, rapid trend cycles, and affordable clothing. However, this convenience has come at a cost. Alongside this growth, pollution and waste have skyrocketed, making the fashion industry one of the most resource-intensive and environmentally damaging sectors today.

Fast fashion emerged as a quick answer to growing consumer appetite for novelty, delivering trend-led garments at speed and at low cost. For years, its affordability and accessibility felt liberating, widening access to style and accelerating the rhythm of collections. But the consequences are now impossible to ignore. Each year, an estimated 100 billion garments are produced, and around 92 million tonnes of clothing end up in landfills. Only about 1% of used clothing is actually recycled back into new garments. Taken together with the industry’s status as the world’s second-largest consumer of water and a contributor of roughly 2–8% of global carbon emissions, these figures expose the limits of a linear model that pushes us to produce, consume, and discard at pace. That model isn’t just environmentally untenable; it also clashes with a more human vision of fashion rooted in care, craft, and longevity.

Consumers today are better informed than ever and increasingly aware that what they buy carries environmental and social implications. This awareness is propelling a shift toward sustainable fashion, one where quality replaces disposability and longevity replaces churn. Embracing a circular mindset helps reduce waste by keeping products in use longer through reuse, repair, and, where feasible, true recycling. Material choices matter as well: organic cotton, recycled fibers, and innovative low-impact textiles can meaningfully cut resource use compared to conventional inputs. Just as importantly, transparent supply chains allow people to support brands that uphold fair labor practices and ethical production, making the story behind each piece as important as the piece itself.

At PRYOU, we align with designers who put environmental responsibility at the heart of their work. Our partner brands approach the challenge from multiple angles: some source and elevate second-hand pieces to extend their useful life; others invest in next-generation materials with lower footprints; many build collections for durability, with timeless design and quality construction that invite repair rather than replacement. We believe small, consistent choices as selecting a sustainable designer, opting for pre-loved luxury, backing material innovation, can accumulate into real, system-level impact when taken up by a wider community.

The future of fashion will be shaped by green innovation and conscious consumption working in tandem. Beauty alone is no longer enough; designers are called to create responsibly, reducing environmental footprints without sacrificing creativity or cultural relevance. By scaling better materials, embracing circular design, and fostering transparency, the industry can move beyond the take-make-waste model and become a force for good. At PRYOU, we are proud to partner with brands that take this responsibility seriously. Their work proves that fashion can be stylish, expressive, and sustainable at once and that progress happens when creativity meets accountability.